The Cycle Age And Trade Review, Vol 21, No 34
Articles in this issue
- p. 1
Leading eastern manufacturers and dealers argued that although the 1898 season fell short of its exceptional early promise, business had been conducted on sound conservative lines with small stocks and no serious price-cutting, leaving conditions better than in recent years.
- Chicago Stamping Co. Fails: Alleged Utterly Insolvent
The Chicago Stamping Company confessed judgment on $244,000 in notes to the company president's father, with creditors including major parts manufacturers filing bills charging fraudulent stock transfers and alleging the associated United States Bicycle Company was merely a conduit for the parent firm.
- p. 2
Pennsylvania dealers and manufacturers reported satisfactory business for the season, with Reading and other regional centers showing steady sales and manufacturers working to export orders while retail trade wound down for the year.
- Reaping Fruits of Economy in Production
Firms that had invested in labor-saving machinery and rationalized their production processes were found to have outperformed competitors during a season of compressed margins, demonstrating the long-run value of manufacturing efficiency over price competition.
- p. 4
A series of retail sales vignettes illustrated effective approaches for converting uncertain buyers, with particular attention to how dealers could use conversation about quality and long-term value to justify higher-priced machines.
- p. 8
The passage of a new federal bankruptcy statute was examined for its likely impact on the bicycle trade, with particular attention to how it would affect the large number of receiverships and assignments that had marked the 1898 season.
- p. 10
A practical technical article addressed the standardization problem in pedal thread specifications, documenting the range of incompatible threading conventions used by different makers and arguing for adoption of a common standard.
- p. 13
The first of a series on wood bicycle rim manufacture described the timber selection, bending, and finishing processes used by leading American rim factories, and assessed where wood held advantages over steel rim construction.